Wednesday, December 09, 2015

[Photo Parade] 40 Hours in Jogjakarta.

A short break. A weekend getaway.

It's not a full of planned vacation.
I joined my husband's trip to Jogja, to attend the Jogja Volkswagen Festival 2015 end of November, and I decided to plan my own travelling; enjoying Jogja with 'light' photo-walking, props hunting, and enjoying street food.
I spent most of the trip exploring Jogja by myself.

This picture was taken at the hotel parking area.

We arrived at train station Tugu, Jogjakarta around 4am. Yup... early morning.
We went straight to the hotel but unfortunately we couldn't check-in until 9am, no room available. So after a quick clean-up in a hotel bathroom, as soon as the sun rose, we heading to the most popular location in Jogja; the Malioboro Street.
During this trip, we rode Trans Jogja bus to travel among different places in Jogja vicinity. That was enjoying.

It's always nice to have a morning walk in Malioboro, when people don't flooding the area yet. Most of the shops were still closed thought, not busy traffic, ... but so many food street vendors were ready available selling delicious & authentic breakfast. Newspapers sellers and street musicians were around, coloring the nice morning.

And ...it's 8am, I stucked in front of piles of traditional food that are arranged nicely on the table, just in front of Beringharjo Traditional Market entrance. At the beginning, I didn't have a plan to eat, just wanted to take some pictures. But, as a courtesy, I decided to order a plate of nasi gudeg with an egg, and took some pictures while Ibu Yamtini was preparing my order.

Surprise-surprise... her home-cooked gudeg tastes so good and ended up becoming my very favorite gudeg. It's not as sweet as other popular gudeg that I've tried. I believe she's very experienced to cook those traditional dishes; the texture of gudeg is so perfect. Hmm.. I couldn't help myself not to grab a big vegetable fritter.

If you are in Jogja, looking for traditional dish for breakfast, I highly recommend Ibu Yamtini's cooking. Please find her in front of Beringharjo Market, at the pedestrian area, next to the market entrance.

Props Hunting.
I know many of you are curious where I went for props hunting. If you have read my post about our previous trip to Jogja thoroughly, then you won't miss those information.
Here it is, 77 Hours in Jogjakarta

This time I started the props shopping in Mirota Batik Store that is located opposite of Beringharjo Market, where I bought some wooden props. Continue to a small alley on side of Beringharjo Market, where I got some antique cutlers. The props hunting ended up in Toko Progo, located behind Beringharjo Market, where we can find so many daily cooking and eating tools.

Finally it's about time to back to the hotel to put all the shopping bags, because it would be hard to continue my photo-walk while my both hands have to carry those shopping bags.

Oh... on my way to the Trans Jogja bus stop, my eyes got stuck on a signage of an old bakery, Toko Djoen. I always admire an old bakery, old shop, old building. In seconds, I was already inside the bakery, staring to the racks that full of bread and some snacks, talking to the lady who was busy arranging the fresh baked breads and small cakes.

Not many information I got about the bakery, just a little information that everyday they start baking the bread at 6am. I bought some small pastries before leaving the bakery.

In the evening, I decided to spend my time exploring Malioboro (again).
Of course the atmosphere is different from time to time.

Street food were everywhere.
In some parts, the sate sellers with their smokey good aroma were dominating in the pedestrian sidewalks. For me... Wedang Ronde is a must for evening warmer. Soon, a bowl of warm Wedang Ronde was ready on my hands.

Wedang Ronde is an Indonesian traditional ginger based hot drink. It is made from ginger simple syrup served with palm fruits, diced breads, peanuts, and glutinous rice balls.

After warming my tummy with Wedang Ronde, I continued walking, up to the north, enjoying Malioboro at night.The array of old artdeco building got my attention. In between the tight shops in Malioboro Street, we can see some colonial-era buildings stand strong and beautiful. Some of them are really well maintained, standing pretty with the nice lightings.

Dinner Time?
It's clear, dinner in Jogja means 'Angkringan Time' and it became a meeting point for me and my husband after a long day doing our own activities.Angkringan is a food stall that selling rice, side dishes and drinks at cheap prices. There are many angkringan stalls in Malioboro, but they also can be found in many parts of the city. Most of angkringan open their stalls on the pedestian sidewalks. Some of them provide table and bench for eating, or many provide floor bamboo mat.
I can say that actually angkringan is a kind of 'traditional buffet', where we can choose the food that already prepared (100% local food), pay & eat it. In some angkringan we can eat first then pay later.

You can see there are piles of small wrap of rice (we call Nasi Kucing) with little side dish inside, so choose one or two, and you can add some other side dishes. Simple and yes... that food are delicious.

Upps... look who I met. Spiderman was enjoying his dinner. :))

First day passed, and here we were at the Sunday morning, on the 2nd day of the trip.

One of my habits when having trip on the weekend is to join a Sunday Service in any 'old' churches on that city. So after a quick searching about the church in Jogja, we decided to join the first service in GPIB Marga Mulya church (started 6.30am), located in ... Malioboro Street.
Just next to Mirota Batik Store.

Trying to be a good girl, I didn't take picture during the service and focus to the worship. #eaaa...
only at the end, before leaving the church, I spent a time to take some shots of the 1857 built church.

Time for breakfast.... and upppsss... we were in Malioboro (again and again).
Just across the road, Ibu Yamtini's nasi gudeg was ready for us.

Another perfect breakfast! Homemade food by Ibu Yamtini. Love it!
Next, I made a trip to Kota Gede, using Trans Jogja Bus from Malioboro Street.

Kota Gede.
A neighborhood city of Jogja.
A historical city, a silent witness of the rise of the Islamic Mataram Kingdom that once ruled almost the entire Java.
Famous with its silver craft.
I can't explain too much about this town, but I have to say that this is a town that you must visit. The town is exotic, picturesque, pretty with its architecture.
Walking is the best way to enjoy this town.

My second day in Jogja continued with checking out from the hotel, enjoying alun-alun, Malioboro (again) and having dinner in angkringan (again) before heading to Tugu Station and back to Jakarta.

Oleh-oleh ...
There are so many options of food that we can bring home. Local food products probably are the best choice.
Here are my choices,

From Kota Gede, I brought Yangko; a soft, small square traditional cake made from glutinous rice, sugar and food flavor. Do not forget to bring home some Monggo Chocolate, directly from its chocolate factory located in a corner of Kota Gede.

Bakpia, originally it is mung bean filled pastry but now there are many variants of bakpia including cheese paste and chocolate paste. From many famous brands, I chose Bakpia Raminten to bring home. My favorite one is Bakpia Unyil with cheese filling from Bakpia Raminten. I like its crunchy texture. You can find their shop just nearby the front door Mirota Batik Shop at Malioboro Street.

Jogja, thank you for being so nice to me.
Jogja Istimewa!pic folder 240